Stand By Me
by skimthrough
Summary: It's the summer before Lilly starts high school. Lilly and Veronica decide to watch Dirty Dancing together for the first time at a sleepover and Logan joins them. (Originally published on 7/14/14.)


Lilly and Veronica had just come in from the Kanes' pool, hair ragged, halfway dried and messily sticking to their necks and the spots on their backs where their swimsuits exposed suntanned skin. They both sat at the same side of the kitchen table, with brightly colored beach towels serving as a buffer between their damp suits and fancy chair cushions. Four hours of swimming had them devouring two giant deli sandwiches from the platter in front of them.

"I need a beverage. You?" Lilly jumps up and heads straight for the refrigerator. Veronica nods mid-bite.

Lilly has just closed the fridge, two orange soda bottles in hand, when Logan sprints past her, through the kitchen and over to the table. He pokes Veronica's shoulder on his way and then falls into the chair across from her, his force knocking it a bit to one side.

"Smooth," Veronica grins, taking another bite of her sandwich.

Logan squints one eye, his mouth pursed playfully, and nods once, letting his breath catch back up to him. He grabs a sandwich for himself, welcoming anything that might distract his thoughts from Lilly and Veronica in two bathing suits that definitely weren't the ones they wore at Duncan's birthday pool party last week.

Lilly hands Veronica one of the sodas and sits back down, pulling her hair back into a thick bun. She shoots Logan a look and his knees go weak, and he's thankful that he's not standing.

Lilly and Veronica both take long drinks from their sodas, in unison, and then almost choke from laughing when they realize it. Logan shakes his head and doesn't understand how they can be the same in a thousand ways and different in a thousand more.

Duncan walks in then, sauntering over to the open spot waiting for him across from Lilly. He grabs the last sandwich from the platter and waves at Veronica. She responds with a quiet "hey" and goes back to eating. Logan tries not to roll his eyes at how awkward they are. He wonders if either of them will ever make the first move.

The four eat in a comfortable silence for a minute until Lilly breaks it. She's going on about how school starts in two weeks and how are they going to make these last fourteen days count?

Logan notices Veronica's demeanor change, barely. Lilly going to high school means a new separation and Veronica is getting worse at hiding how unsettled that makes her feel. Logan sometimes wants to tell her that he's dreading it too, but he doesn't know how.

-

"I have incredible plans for us tonight, Veronica Mars." Lilly says, focused and a little devious.

They're sitting at the edge of Lilly's bed. Lilly is carefully painting a coat of bright pink nail polish on Veronica's right hand, and Veronica's always amazed at how Lilly is so good at this, good at everything. Veronica doesn't know what Lilly sees in her, but she's glad for it.

Veronica looks up at Lilly suspiciously, trying to hide her smile. Lilly finishes painting Veronica's pinky nail and meets her gaze, giggling.

"And what might these incredible plans be?" Veronica questions, tilting her head slightly to one side. She wonders how she's going to get out of her next inevitable grounding. She'll find a way.

"Dirty Dancing and popcorn. Movie Theater Butter flavored popcorn, actually." Lilly's eyes glimmer, and she stands up, motioning her hands for emphasis as she continues.

"Pajamas. Popcorn. Classic teen romance. Us."

Lilly sits back down on the bed, and puts her hands on Veronica's shoulders. She looks into Veronica's eyes with a hint of seriousness that Veronica only sees when she knows Lilly is feeling more than she's saying.

"I wasn't just talking to fill the silence earlier. I want these fourteen days to matter. To be better than anything. And Cosmo is always talking about how epic Dirty Dancing is. I've never seen it, and I know you haven't either. So, you wanna?"

Veronica swallows and nods. She smiles, biting her bottom lip out of habit, and hugs Lilly tightly with one arm, hoping that her left hand's base coat is dry by now. Hoping that Lilly knows how much she needs her.

"I wanna."

-

Lilly and Veronica decide to wait until around 11 p.m. to watch Dirty Dancing. Until then, they take showers, towel dry their hair, put on some of Lilly's comfiest pajamas, and avoid the boys like the plague. They jam out to Spice Girls and Lilly teaches Veronica how to use eyeliner and blush, and suddenly Veronica isn't so scared that she'll lose Lilly anymore.

At a quarter 'til eleven, Lilly and Veronica race downstairs to pop two bags of popcorn and get drinks. They jump around on the kitchen tile, hand in hand, their tiny excited shrieks muffled by the hum of the microwave. Girls' nights don't get any better than this.

The movie room is dark and chillier than the rest of the house, so Lilly and Veronica are sitting close to each other on the long couch, sharing a blanket and already chowing down on popcorn when Lilly presses the play button on the remote.

-

Logan is wandering aimlessly through the halls of the Kanes' house when he comes upon the doors to their movie room slightly parted. A glow from the TV creeps through the opening and lights part of the carpet in front of the doorway. He hears dated upbeat music and familiar voices, and he smiles because he knows this one.

Logan slips into the movie room, whispers "hey" in the direction of Lilly and Veronica, and sits down in a corner of the couch. It's the side Veronica is on, where there's the most empty space. He tries to forget about their bathing suits from earlier.

Johnny and Baby are about to dance together for the first time, but Lilly pauses the movie, leans forward and looks over at Logan, somewhat unimpressed.

"Logan. We're kind of busy."

Logan considers leaving, but waits.

"Look," he sighs and leans forward to look at Lilly, even though he can see her well enough already. "Duncan passed out an hour ago and I'm bored, okay? You won't even know I'm here, I swear."

Lilly and Veronica exchange glances for half a minute, silently communicating who-knows-what. Logan can tell that they're mostly uninterested in protesting.

Veronica takes the remote from Lilly's hand, presses play, and drops it beside her. She moves her popcorn bowl from her lap to the spot between her and Logan. He's surprised, but grateful. He didn't want to have to leave, and that popcorn smelled really good.

Veronica and Lilly refocus their attention back to what's happening on screen, with wide eyes and unsteady breaths. Logan realizes that this is a first. Part of him wishes he hadn't missed twenty minutes of it.

-

Logan has watched Dirty Dancing exactly three times before this night. It's his mom's favorite. Ever since they moved to Neptune, any time it's just him and her at home, she turns it on in one of their living rooms and they watch it together, mostly in silence.

He hopes they'll get to again soon.

-

Logan, Lilly, and Veronica are an hour into the movie before Logan looks over at them again, this time out of the corner of his eye.

Baby just said "dance with me" and Logan thinks Celeste accidentally turned off the air conditioning before going to bed, because he's uncomfortably warm in his boxers and t-shirt.

Lilly and Veronica are having the same problem, he guesses, because at some point they pushed away the blanket they were sharing. It's in a heap below them on the floor.

They're both wearing thin short shorts with spaghetti strap tank tops. Logan sees their bare legs and arms and their bras peeking out from under their shirts. He's surprised at how much he notices.

Lilly's pajamas fit her well. Really well, Logan thinks. Veronica's don't quite swallow her, but they're still too big for her tiny frame.

Johnny and Baby are dancing on screen now, in his room, closely.

Logan sees Veronica's chest moving up and down, more obvious than usual, and her mouth is slightly parted. She's clutching a couch pillow beneath her arms on her stomach, and her legs are crossed.

From the start, since twelve and soccer uniforms and beginnings, there has been an ease between Logan and Veronica. She's funny and she's nice to him, but also not afraid hand it to him. She carries herself with confidence, self-assurance. Sort of like Lilly, but not like her at all.

They're friends.

Even though they can talk - and really talk, in a way that's different than with Lilly and Duncan - Logan has never seen Veronica vulnerable like she is in this moment. He realizes that she wants everything he wants, everything Lilly wants, everything anyone wants.

Logan thinks that maybe this year, with just him and her and Duncan, and Lilly away at another school, won't be as bad as he thought.

The room is dark, but the glow from the TV screen makes Veronica's blush difficult to ignore. Logan sees it, and chooses not to make a comment. Not now, probably not ever. But he doesn't really forget about it either.

-

Later, after the movie ends, Logan hops down onto the floor, looks at Lilly and Veronica, and does a goofy impression of "Sylvia! How do you call your loverboy?"

Lilly and Veronica erupt into laughter, holding their stomachs and gasping for air.

They're all sitting on the floor then, in an unintentional triangle. The girls decide to try and guess how many times Logan has watched Dirty Dancing with his mom, because they both know that's how this happened. He can't even be embarrassed.

Logan zips an invisible zipper across his closed mouth, grinning. Lilly gently elbows Veronica's arm, says she has to guess first.

Veronica stares at Logan, searching for clues, he knows.

"Three."


End file.
